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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 

No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec¬ 
tion has been found. MAr 25 1903 

Forwarded to Order Division-MAI 27 _1903 

(Date) 


(Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) 




Souvenir of the 


Chicag 



Canal 


> > >) 
>v n 


Photo-Gravures 




Published and Copyrighted, 1900, 
I. W. POWELL, Photographer 
282 Dearborn Avenue, 
Kankakee, III. 


The Albertype Co., 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 









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TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

Library of Cftfigrot% 

Office of {lie 

APR 101900 

fteglctor cf Gopyrlg&f* 


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Zb e Chicago ^Drainage Canal, 

f HE greatest of its I^nfi inythe world in point of skillful engineering, magnitude and man¬ 
ner of construction, was created for the double purpose of giving sanitary drainage to 
the city of Chicago, and ultimately forming a ship canal connecting the Great Lakes 
with the Gulf of Mexico through the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. 

By an act of the Illinois legislature in 1889 the officials necessary for promoting the con¬ 
struction were first elected by popular vote in the city of Chicago in 1890, with power to levy 
and collect taxes from the people of Cook county directly benefited bv such improvement. 

The object to be accomplished was the entire reversal of the Chicago river current by 
diversion of the city sewage from the lake into the ancient waterway of the Desplaines 
river and thus preserving the city’s water from constant pollution. 

One of the necessary conditions was the widening and deepening of the Chicago river 
from the lake to Robey street, a distance of six miles. From Robey street the excavations 
for the canal proper begin. From there to Willow Springs, a distance of a little more than 
twelve miles, comprised the Glacial Drift or Earth Sections. These were lettered, be¬ 
ginning at Willow Springs, fiom “A” to “ O ” inclusive, omitting “J.” 

Through these earth sections the channel varies from no to 202 feet at the bottom, and 
198 to 290 feet, at the water line, with an average depth of 22 feet, and a fall of in. per mile. 

At Willow Springs this channel narrows to a uniform width of 160 feet at the bottom, 
and 162 feet at the top, with a fall of 3^ inches to the mile, comprising the Walled or Rock 
Sections, which extend about 15 miles to Lockport. Starting at Willow Springs these rock 
sections were numbered from 1 to 15 inclusive, terminating at Lockport in a widened Windage 
Basin, for turning vessels around, and the Controlling Works. 

The Controlling Works, a triumph of modern engineering, were built for the sole object 
of regulating the flow of the lake water into the Desplaines river, and are so constructed as to 
meet possible fluctuations in Lake Michigan from 5 feet above to 8 feet below its average 






level. They consist of seven 20\30-foot metal sluice gates with necessary masonry work, and 
a 160-foot bear trap dam, dimensions sufficiently large to not only control the present flow of 
300,000 cubic feet a minute, but capable of meeting all future iequirements. 

An additional difficulty to overcome was the diversion of the Desplaines river bv the 
construction of 13 miles of new channel, and 19 miles of levee to control the water of the 
Desplaines water shed. At the head of this river diversion it was necessary to make a safety 
valve in the shape of a 397-foot concrete dam called the Spillway, over which there is no flow 
of water until the volume reaches 300,000 cubic feet a minute. 

The work on the Desplaines below Lockport consisted in widening, straightening and 
deepening the river to give it the necessary flowing capacity of 1,500,000 cubic feet per 
minute. This involved a costly amount of work in Joliet in removing and rebuilding dams 
and locks, constiuction of a massive concrete retaining wall, reconstruction of bridges, and to 
admit of extensive water pow r er development, which is the property of the State. 

The bridges built on the main channel are 6 for public highways and 7 for railroads, all 
of which are movable and thoroughly modern structures, and represent a combined weight in 
iron and steel of 22,678,000 pounds. 

Contracts were let for the excavating in sections, and various interesting and novel 
methods of carrying out these contracts were made use of, the grand total of 43,478,659 cubic 
yards of earth and rock being removed. 

The first work on the canal was begun just below Lamont on Shovel Day, September 3d, 
1892, and the first water turned into the canal January 2d, 1900. 

The total expenditures, including $3,500,000 interest charges, to January 1st, 1900, were 
$33,525,691.20, $24,000,000 of w'hich w r as for construction, $1,000,000 for river diversion, $2,- 
500,000 for bridges, over $3,000,000 for right of way, $2,000,000 for administration, and nearly 
$100,000 for maintenance. 

This colossal work on the part of the people of the city of Chicago will go down into 
history as one of the marvels of the Nineteenth Century. 






















































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Sec. I. "Compressed Air Hoist. 




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v3ec. A.-I. Retaining Walls. 


Cantilever Conveyor 640 feet long. 


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Sec. 4. Lidgerwood cable Tower. 


Sec. 3. General View. 

























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Sec. 6. loading Skips. 


Secs. 6 & 5. General View Looking East. 
















































































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5EX. 8. General View. 

Lookino V/^st, 


Sec. 7. Incline Hoist. 



vSec.S.Loadjng Cable V/ay 5kips. 



Sec. 9. Cable Tramway for Hoisting Cars 































Sec. 10. Dedication, Sept. 3rd, ’95 of County Line Stone, 

Sec. 11 & 12. Canal Curve and Village of Romeo. 









































Sec. 14. Geraldine Double Boom Revolving Derricks 


Sec. 12, General View. 



























































































































































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Controlling Gear of the Stoney Gates. 


Sfc. 15. Top View of Hydraulic Jacks. 







































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View of Steel Frame Work for Dam. 


Sluice Gate. 


View showing Dam and Windage Basin. 























































































































































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Bear Trap Dam, Showing flow of 300,000 Cubic feet a minute 










































































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Tail Race at Jackson Street, Jcliet. 


Blowing up of the Jefferson St. Bridge. 
































































































































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Spill-Way Dam at the Head of the New Des Plaines River Channel 

' • Turning in of the Water, Jan. 2nd, 1900. 








































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Governor Tanner and Members of the Chicago and State Drainage Board. 


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Santa Fe R. r. Bridge. 


Chicago Outer Belt R. R. Bridge. 












































Sec. A. Secretary Alger and Party, May 5th, 1399. 

Sec. A. General View. Sec. C Sooey Smith Hydraulic Dredge. 


Sift 



































^ec.K. General View. 


J^ec.F Difficult Problem. 


Sec. F. Christy and Lowe Bridge Conveyor. 







































Sec, I. & K. Bridge Conveyor. 
A Twenty Horse Surface Grinder at work. 


Sec. L. & M. General View. 

































































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Sec. 5. Lidgerwood Steam Dredge and Hoist at Work. 























































JeceT "- 

F^ontVJE^. or Con i/e yo^ 


LOADING Cj\R5 


NE - ConVCYi 


Sec. K. Excavation and Glacial Drive. 


General View of Sec. E, showing abutments for Swing Bridge. 









































APR 10 1900 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


0 020 070 805 2 




































































